Charm Health and Safety Days focus
on Yoder family, proceeds go to family

Published: September 28, 2000 12:00AM

A devastating fire that left two children dead was caused when fumes from lacquer thinner were ignited by a water heater flame in the basement of the family's Big Prairie home on June 13.

Joe Boban, a State Fire Marshal inspector, was at Charm Health and Safety Days on Wednesday demonstrating how the flash fire occurred, giving those in attendance tips on preventing such an accident from occurring.

Susie Yoder, 25, had been in the family's basement cleaning up an oil spot on the floor with the flammable solvent. As she swept the floor, the action of the broom activated the fumes and caused them to spread. They were ignited when they made contact with the ashes collected in a pan under a wood-burning hot water heater, located 28 feet away.

Susie Yoder and three of her children sustained major burns as the flash fire swept through the basement. She and 3-year-old Emma remain in serious condition in the burn unit at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. Levi Yoder, 1, and Edna Yoder, 4, died from burns sustained in the accident.

Lacquer thinner, like gasoline, is about four times heavier than air. Even after it evaporates, the fumes remain low to the ground, Boban explained. While it is believed that a door and a window were opened in the basement, they provided little ventilation because the fumes settled and were not capable of escaping. The flow of air may have, in fact, helped the vapors to spread, he said.

The flames caused little damage to the house, burning only soft materials, including the family's flesh and clothes, he said.

"One of the most disheartening things was having to look at the swing where the little baby sat," Boban said, explaining the unsettling sight of charred remains of a blanket and padding which covered the swing. Boban was called to the Yoder home the day after the fire to investigate.

Both Susie and Emma Yoder are doing as well as can be expected, said Daniel Weaver, of the Highway Safety Task Force, who spoke to relatives earlier in the day. Since the fire, Susie Yoder has begun to breathe unassisted.

"One thing we don't want to do is blame that mother," Weaver said, explaining the unfortunate accident could have happened to anyone. However, a lesson is to be learned from this, and he encouraged everyone to be especially attentive to reading labels and taking care when using flammable materials.

"This was an unfortunate accident, but as a result, two children have been lost," Boban said. "Please let these deaths be a lesson to us that we can be a little safer in our own actions."

Proceeds from the sale of chicken dinners and a bake sale at Charm Health and Safety Days will go toward payment of the family's medical expenses, expected to total between $500,000 and $800,000, Weaver said.

More than 1,300 people attended the event, which featured various health care and law enforcement personnel.